2.17.2011

Quinoa Veggie "Meatballs"

I'd like to ask you to consider the meatball for a moment. Humble in stature, it doesn't receive nearly as much attention as it deserves. Instead, it's usually an afterthought. Sometimes a poorly flavored concoction, sadly bubbling away in a crock pot at a buffet or just a meaty decoration to adorn a pile of pasta, the meatball suffers from some poor PR. What is failed to be recognized is how convenient and versatile meatballs are. Cute little round vessels of flavor, the meatball can be oh so much more than the traditionally Italian flavored meat rolled into a ball. In fact, dare I say, it can even be delicious as a vegetarian dish.

A couple months back, I made my first version of a vegetarian (eggplant) meatballs and I fell in love. In addition to my affection towards this recipe, I think it opened my eyes to a wide world of possibilities and flavor combinations. The eggplant meatballs that I made are a lighter cousin to a traditional meatball but doesn't sacrifice flavor (usually the flaw in a well-meaning lighter version of a recipe). However, being the self-competitive person that I am, I wanted to see if I could one up myself and create a completely different vegetarian meatball.

Mission accomplished, I must say. I was thrilled with the way they came out and found myself liking them even more than my eggplant meatballs. What really made these so good was the texture. "Poppy" and slightly crunchy quinoa was very welcoming and a nice change of pace as well as was a great compliment to the tender mushrooms and sweet roasted red pepper bits. I also added a couple pinches of crushed red pepper flakes just to keep things interesting and heat things up a bit (of course you can just leave those out if you're not into heat).

For serving, I thought these worked quite nicely in traditionally meatball parm. sub form, with lots of mozzarella melting down the sides and good quality crusty sub rolls. These would also be a popular guest a party. Served in a more miniature form, they could be accompanied by a simple marinara sauce and I guarantee they'd be a favorite as well as a conversation starter as I find there's still a good population that hasn't had the pleasure of being introduced to quinoa yet.

I loved this recipe so much that I've decided that it is worthy of being categorized in as a Recipe I Love.

Recipe is featured after the jump!

Quinoa Veggie "Meatballs"

- 1/2 cup quinoa

- 1 cup water (or chicken stock)

- 5-6 large button mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced

- 1 small pat of butter or a drizzle of olive oil

- 1/2 bag of fresh baby spinach, chopped

- 1/2 red pepper, finely diced

- 1/4 cup onions, diced

- 2 tbs pine nuts (almost any kind of nut would work well here too!)

- 2 eggs - one for egg wash

- A couple generous pinches of crushed red pepper

- 1/2 tsp fresh oregano

- 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary

- Salt and pepper to taste

Cook quinoa according to package using either water or chicken stock and set aside to cool a bit. Fry up the onions and mushroom slices in a little bit of butter or olive oil until the onions have softened and the mushrooms have browned and set aside. In the same pan, wilt the spinach until it just softens. In a large bowl, combine the fried mushrooms, wilted spinach, red pepper and onions. Add the oregano, rosemary and crushed red pepper. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the pine nuts and combine mixture. Add the cooled quinoa and mix in one of the eggs. Shape the mixture into even-sized balls and place on a greased and foil lined baking sheet. Make an egg wash by mixing together the remaining egg and a splash of water. Using a brush, paint the meatballs with the eggwash. Bake at 400 degrees until they are cooked through, browned and slightly crispy.

Oh YUM, these look great. I try to avoid gluten as it bothers my stomach, so I'll have to try these babies out! Since they're made with quinoa I can actually eat them - YAY : ) Thanks for sharing...they really look delicious!

My meatballs are never an afterthought. :) I still want to try your eggplant meatballs and now I want to try these too! You didn't find it too heavy with the quinoa and the roll? I feel like I'd serve this on the plate, maybe with more veggies alongside.

Anonymous, I used a traditionally sized grocery store bag of spinach, I believe they are 6 oz? It was roughly a couple large handfuls of spinach if you're using a bigger bag.

Megan, I didn't find them too heavy, which I usually do with the whole carb on carb thing but I think because quinoa is s light and don't have a super starchy quality to it, it works. I loved the texture of it and sort of "popping" quality that it has.

Thanks for posting this inspirational recipe! I made a version of it using millet instead of quinoa and they were delicious! Here's what I did: http://www.effortlesseating.com/2011/03/gluten-free-veggie-burger-recipe/

yay! i am new to the quinoa scene but it is so tasty. we have been looking for a decent veggie meatball recipe and it is on the menu for dinner tonight. i even bought the red quinoa for more of a meatball look for the kiddos. thanks for the post, i am sure they will be delicious!

Delicious! My family just went mostly vegan for health reasons, and my daughter requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight. I searched for vegetarian meatballs and came up with these. They are still simmering in the sauce but the mix is delicious. Can't wait to taste them.

I did have to add about a half cup of breadcrumbs to hold everything together.

I tried these but omitted the pine nuts and added parmesan cheese, took them to a Christmas Eve party and everyone loved them! Now I have to forward the recipe to a handful of poeple. Delicious recipe, thanks!

About Me

Private Chef, Caterer and Food Writer, co-owner of The Skinny Beet. Self proclaimed food-geek and lover of all things Boston, cooking up original and creative recipes from my wicked Small Boston Kitchen.
Contact: KNBarszcz[at]gmail[dot]com